Table for Two

Jeff and I had the best night last night. My sister came over to babysit the kiddos, and we had the whole evening to ourselves. We went to church first, which was wonderful. We haven't been to Mass together since Evan made his 1st Communion last March. It's just so hard to take two toddlers to church (one is bad enough!). I usually take Charlie and Evan while Jeff stays home with Sam, and then he goes to a different service. It was even the very first time we had ever been to church BY OURSELVES! We have always had a kid with us, so it was nice to be able to listen and just be. Afterwards, we headed to SVdP which was hosting their annual Table for Two mini marriage retreat. It is such a nice evening. They serve a five course, candlelight meal. Before each course there is a 10 minute presentation by someone who is an expert in marriage issues, and then while you eat they give each table a list of discussion items for you and your spouse related to the topic presented. Last night the speaker was an expert on the 5 Love Languages. I discovered my love language is words of affirmation, while Jeff's is acts of service. I felt as though someone handed me Jeff's instruction manual. I got so many insights into how his mind works, how he is trying to relate to me, how we can be better together. I also feel like someone put a bunch of new tools in my "marriage toolbox" to help me better deal with things. My favorite part of the evening was when they broke down the marriage vows and had you think about them as they related to your marriage today, as opposed to when you first said them at the wedding. We got a chance to say them again to our spouse, which was so much more meaningful to me at this point, three kids, a house, and everything later than when I first committed myself to Jeff. In fact, as I was looking at this man that I adore, saying these things to him, I was totally overwhelmed with love, and that thing girls are so good at started to happen to me-my eyes welled up, and Jeff looked at me in horror. He HATES crying in public places! He looked at me desperately and said "Christy, I love you so much too, but PLEASE try to stop crying! I'm not that great!!!! PEOPLE WILL SEE YOU!!" Which just made me laugh at his comic distress, so then I was crying and snorting at the same time. The snorting resulted from my efforts to try to stop doing both the laughing and the crying. I'm sure people did see me, and they probably thought I was a sap, but hey, who wouldn't cry when they realize they are married to the best guy in the whole world?